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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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24th Sep 2022, 4:59 pm | #1 |
Heptode
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 710
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Medium Wave Radio Stations.
l realise it's been discussed elsewhere
But When we were camping in the 1970's l always took a little pocket MW radio and you could pick up loads of stations including the major ones such as R4 and R1 As a kid it wasn't so easy to get a radio, with spending money at 50p per week it took a while to raise the £4 needed to buy one off the local market stall. l looked forward to listening to "The Archers" because l thought it was about Archery! Once l found that wasn't the case l discovered many other stations and used to sit in the tent at night going through the waveband with my £4 "solid state" 5 transistor receiver. lt was a little sad last week when we were in the Lake District to find that there was nothing useable received on MW at all. Radio 5 was just about intelligible. I know it's old tech and everything but it just feels a bit sad to see my childhood pastime consigned to history. |
24th Sep 2022, 6:23 pm | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Croydon, Surrey, UK.
Posts: 7,550
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Re: Medium wave radio
It can only get worse....on AM at least! That is the price of progress unfortunately. I'm surprised that there are any stations left on MW at all given the appalling reception in most areas now. I wonder just how many listeners there are to the existing AM stations? It IS a pity from our point-of-view but we are only a minority that like playing with old technology.
If you could visit everyone in your home town to find out what they listened to, you'll probably find that NONE had a MW radio or at least never used the AM band. Most radio is listened to on car radio's and that will usually be to and from work on one of the local or national stations
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24th Sep 2022, 9:53 pm | #3 |
Nonode
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 2,000
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Re: Medium wave radio
I imagine MW mostly used to listen to Radio 5 & Talksport by people without a DAB, unless the have a local oldies station which uses it.
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24th Sep 2022, 10:35 pm | #4 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Fakenham, Norfolk, UK.
Posts: 4,246
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Re: Medium wave radio
Quote:
Paul |
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24th Sep 2022, 10:43 pm | #5 |
Banned
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Mareeba, North Queensland, Australia
Posts: 2,704
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Re: Medium wave radio
AM is still pretty big in Australia because of the distances involved, and I have yet to see a DAB radio.
I do remember sitting in the car listening to the radio at Lake Eucumbene, when it still had fish in it. My, that is 60 years ago. The reason I moved to Mareeba was to take over as station engineer at the local AM station. Its listened to from here all the way up the cape ( about 1000 miles, straight line ) and as far west as Mount Isa. So your Hifi FM is about as much use as yes, well. Mind you, most cars dont go up there. BUT!! There are many cattle stations, and small towns that rely on AM information for weather reports, cattle sale prices and local happenings. Slightly OT, but SSB doesnt go very far in Au because of the amount of mineralisation in the ground. Most of the signal is bounced out into space. Joe |
24th Sep 2022, 11:51 pm | #6 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,316
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Re: Medium wave radio
In the London area there is at least one Asian station that plays indian music and has announcements and adverts in what I assume is an Indian language.
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25th Sep 2022, 8:57 am | #7 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK.
Posts: 5,420
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Re: Medium wave radio
Hi.
The Lake District was never I'd say the best reception area even in the glory days. On medium wave here in Kilmarnock I can easily receive, Absolute, Manx, Clyde 2, Talk Sport, West Sound, 5 live, Radio Scotland, Radio 4 (720Khz from NI) & Spirit Radio. On long wave RTE & Radio 4. Medium wave comes alive at night with many UK low power stations receivable, Europeans and of course Radio Caroline. Far from dead yet!
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25th Sep 2022, 9:01 am | #8 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK.
Posts: 5,420
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Re: Medium wave radio
Quote:
I've heard many Amateurs from Australia here in the UK using SSB
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25th Sep 2022, 9:07 am | #9 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Dukinfield, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 2,034
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Re: Medium wave radio
As a child I was increasingly drawn into electronics and especially radio, and my favourite time of day was night-time when MW filled up with European stations. This was the time of the offshore pirate stations and in bed I would listen around them before tuning to the big continental broadcasters like Deutsche Welle who would be playing lush orchestral music. It was like a magic carpet.
It's so sad the way it all seems to be coming to an end, although it can be interesting to see what's been hiding behind the 'big guns' as they vacate the band.
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25th Sep 2022, 11:01 am | #10 |
Heptode
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 710
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Re: Medium wave radio
Good to hear there's still activity on AM
Maybe it was because l'd taken with me a tiny Sony MW radio about the size of a box of matches. A better receiver may have picked up more stations. Next time l'll take something better. What l always found is that the lower end of the tuning scale was quiet. Once you got to radio 4 around the middle of the band it got a lot busier. lt still seems the same today. Why were all the stations at one end of the band? |
25th Sep 2022, 11:32 am | #11 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 18,676
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Re: Medium wave radio
Geophysics! Radio propergation using the D layer of the ionosphere is enhanced as you go higher in frequency within the MW band.
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25th Sep 2022, 1:21 pm | #12 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
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Re: Medium wave radio
As well as the Asian stations (which are kinda fun when you need a blast of Bhangra to wake you up first thing in the morning) there is also Smooth Radio which quite a few of my friends listen to, though it's not that strong out here in rural Wiltshire. Indeed I have probably helped reduce MW listening by pointing out to people that they can get much better quality by telling Alexa to 'play smooth radio '.
Night time it's still worth tuning around to see what you can hear, with the coming winter and a transatlantic dark path it should be possible to get some US stations in your listening log.
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25th Sep 2022, 3:03 pm | #13 |
Heptode
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 687
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Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.
Still quite a few stations on MW in this area (near Brentwood, Essex) that I listen to on my old sets - Gold, Absolute Radio, Smooth, Caroline easily receivable during the Day and the usual R5live and Talk sport, which are not really to my taste but are the strongest signals.
There is even a relay of R4 still on which I read somewhere was to fill in for the London Area. Steve. |
25th Sep 2022, 3:07 pm | #14 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK.
Posts: 983
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Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.
Build a nice frame loop antenna, then you will hear the lot.
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25th Sep 2022, 3:40 pm | #15 |
Nonode
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Warsaw, Poland and Cambridge, UK
Posts: 2,669
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Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.
Count yourselves lucky! Here in Warsaw, Poland, there's literally nothing audible on MW during the day. As far as I can tell, Poland has no medium wave stations at all. There's far more around at night, with signals from Romania especially, but I can also easily hear Ukrainian and Russian (broadcast from the mysterious Transnistria) stations on the car radio.
Chris
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25th Sep 2022, 3:58 pm | #16 |
Heptode
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: Leicestershire, UK.
Posts: 690
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Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.
I checked out Caroline on my car Radio from East Midlands .... it was clear but sounded very flat ? Nothing like what Radio 1 used to sound like in the olden days.
Rog |
25th Sep 2022, 4:18 pm | #17 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Warnham, West Sussex. 10 miles south of DORKING.
Posts: 9,145
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Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.
Mostly unusable here in Horsham. There are a couple of stations that are just about listenable but I have no interest in them. FM is good but there is no DAB at all, even upstairs. Used to be very clear with no interference. Very odd because it is open ground with no buildings around.
I was servicing a Vidor 4 valve portable recently with a very directional frame aerial. Lining up the radio for maximum interference proved it was arriving across open fields! There is also a general hash in the background making listening painful. I think it's days are over. John. |
25th Sep 2022, 6:08 pm | #18 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Durham, County Durham, UK.
Posts: 825
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Re: Medium wave radio
Quote:
On my valve radios with an aerial strung up in the loft I can usually get lots of stations on MW but I'm restoring a 60's transistor with a ferrite rod (it also has provision for an external car aerial) and can only get 4 so as you'd expect the quality and and probably more importantly the aerial have a bearing. One of those is a very strong R4 signal which we're lucky to get on MW here, hopefully that doesn't get switched off anytime soon. John |
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25th Sep 2022, 6:29 pm | #19 |
Heptode
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 687
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Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.
The continuous hash type of interference is strange, there's not really any in the house, even with a mains set, unless it's near a modern phone/TV or similar and that's on a housing estate. The car radio however has always had so much it virtually obliterates anything on AM unless it's a very strong station, even when it's parked in the drive!
Steve. |
25th Sep 2022, 8:09 pm | #20 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Bath, Somerset, UK.
Posts: 1,804
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Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.
I do rely heavily on MW and to some extent on LW. I like 5Live, and since this is not available on FM, MW is the only option when it comes to portability. DAB radios are power hungry and as such run batteries down rapidly so are just not an option when out and about. Usually MW reception conditions are fair, but if MW interference becomes excessive then I switch over to R4 on LW. The AM bands still appear quite lively and as such are worth preserving.
Neil
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